ABSTRACT
Various concepts underpinning long-established features of academic discourse and procedure have mythic aspects, such as the notion of collegiality: often idealised yet all too often flawed. In universities, the corporate restructuring of academia is shaped and supported by a narrative framework ranging from "'time immemorial' myths to invented traditions created right on the spot". Meanwhile, other related fables delve deeper into areas of enchantment, intimating that the corporatisation of higher education can exercise a transformative economic power over society at large. This leads us into one of the core fables of corporate academia: the myth of the knowledge economy. The word spinning is worth considering further, especially bearing in mind that market-oriented, corporatised universities are inhabited by a host of spin doctors, including various members of senior management and agents of the corporate world. The devotees of the Melanesian "cargo cults" had more solid grounds for some of their convictions than the current advocates of corporatisation have for theirs.
